Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40074449›Full record

ArticleJournal, genetic engineering & biotechnology2025

Identifying promising peptide targets for leprosy serological tests: From prediction to ELISA.

Augusto César Parreiras de Jesus, Vanêssa Gomes Fraga, Samuel Alexandre Pimenta-Carvalho, Tania Mara Pinto Dabés Guimarães, Marcio Sobreira Silva Araújo, Jairo Campos de Carvalho, Marcio Bezerra Santos, Marcelo Grossi Araújo, Marcelo Antonio Pascoal-Xavier, Sandra Lyon and 10 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal, genetic engineering & biotechnology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

20 authors.

Augusto César Parreiras de JesusPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Vanêssa Gomes FragaPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Samuel Alexandre Pimenta-CarvalhoPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Bioinformática, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Tania Mara Pinto Dabés GuimarãesDepartamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Marcio Sobreira Silva AraújoPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Jairo Campos de CarvalhoPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Marcio Bezerra SantosPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Complexo de Ciências Médicas e Enfermagem, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Arapiraca, Alagoas, Brazil.
Marcelo Grossi AraújoDepartamento de Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Marcelo Antonio Pascoal-XavierPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Departamento de Anatomia Patológica e Medicina Legal, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Sandra LyonHospital Eduardo de Menezes, Fundação Hospitalar do Estado de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Sebastião Rodrigo FerreiraPrograma de Pós-graduação em Saúde, Ambiente e Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia, Teixeira de Freitas, Bahia, Brazil.
Rocio Arreguin-CamposSensor Engineering Department, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Limburg, the Netherlands.
Kasper EerselsSensor Engineering Department, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Limburg, the Netherlands.
Bart van GrinsvenSensor Engineering Department, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Limburg, the Netherlands.
Thomas CleijSensor Engineering Department, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Limburg, the Netherlands.
Lilian Lacerda BuenoPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Daniella Castanheira BartholomeuPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Bioinformática, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Cristiane Alves da Silva MenezesDepartamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Ana Laura Grossi de OliveiraPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Ricardo Toshio FujiwaraPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: fujiwara@icb.ufmg.br.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Leprosy remains a significant health concern, particularly in India, Brazil, and Indonesia. Early diagnosis is essential to prevent complications, highlighting the need for improved diagnostic tools. This study aimed to identify novel Mycobacterium leprae antigens and assess their effectiveness against human sera through immunotools for antibody response evaluation. Using bioinformatics, we predicted B-cell epitopes in M. leprae, which were chemically synthesized and tested via dot blotting with sera from leprosy patients, tuberculosis patients, and healthy controls. Promising peptides underwent further analysis through ELISA using 465 serum samples from leprosy patients, household contacts, and healthy controls across Brazil. The samples were also tested against known antigens HSA-NDO, LID-1, and NDO-LID. A total of 102 epitope sequences were generated, of which eight (PEP1 to PEP8) demonstrated the ability to differentiate between individuals with and without exposure to M. leprae. The results of the ELISA test exhibited statistically significant differences in absorbance responses between the experimental groups for the novel synthetic peptides (p < 0.05). PEP3, PEP4, and PEP5 demonstrated the most favorable outcomes, with values of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.9759, 0.9796 and 0.9551 respectively in the comparison of healthy controls with household contacts, and 0.8257, 0.7945, and 0.7961 comparing the same controls with patients. Furthermore, the synthetic peptides demonstrated superior sensitivity, specificity, and AUC compared to HSA-NDO, LID-1, and NDO-LID. The identified peptides showed significant responses in samples from patients and household contacts (HHC), indicating their potential for tracing exposure to M. leprae bacilli. These novel synthetic peptides could enhance the sensitivity of rapid diagnostic tests for leprosy, facilitating early detection of the infection. This could help prevent disease progression and interrupt transmission.

Indexed as

BioinformaticsDiagnosticsLeprosyPeptidesSerology

Identifiers

PMID40074449
PMCPMC11928804

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.